Cmdr. Jeffrey Buschmann, executive officer of CIWT, presided over the event and praised Lester for his dedicated leadership and CIWT Det. Fort Gordon Sailors for their exceptional support for the information warfare training mission.

Under Lester’s leadership, the 41 Sailors and one civilian assigned to CIWT Det. Fort Gordon trained over 930 joint service students in over 20,000 hours of instruction, achieving a 99 percent graduation rate along with a 94 percent grade point average. They provide enlisted "C" school and other specialty training for cryptologic technicians, electronics technicians, and information technology specialists to both Army and Navy students alike.

When Lester made his final remarks to the detachment, his words summarized his leadership style. “When I took charge of this detachment, I had one standing order,” shared Lester. “Do the right thing, especially when no one is looking. That is written at the top of the board in my office. Underneath that is written Capt. Lintz's standing order for me to 'Produce Sailors Ready for War.' We have done that.”

Lester went on to discuss his tour sharing how the Sailors at the detachment have "made leading fun again" and how he was proud to lead the best detachment within the CIWT domain.

Lees reports from Navy Information Operations Command (NIOC) Georgia where he served as operations watch officer for the National Security Agency/Central Security Service Georgia and as NIOC Georgia’s commander’s staff assistant.

Prior assignments include serving as assistant operations officer (exercises) for Destroyer Squadron 7 in Singapore where he was the lead planner of and executed the Maritime Counter Special Operations Forces, Ssang Yong, and South East Asia Cooperation and Training exercises; and aboard USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58) as the anti-submarine warfare, force protection, gunnery/ordnance and lead maritime interdiction operations/visit, board, search and seizure officer.

"It is a true honor to be standing in front of you today,” said Lees. “This is a rare opportunity and one that I have always hoped to have. I want to thank Capt. Andrews and the rest of the CIWT team for welcoming me into this role. Warrant Lester, thank you for turning over such a great team. They are a well-oiled machine and have made my transition easy. To CIWT Det. Fort Gordon, your knowledge, motivation, and skill is impressive and I hope to live up to your already high expectations."

The Center for Information Warfare Training delivers trained information warfare professionals to the Navy and joint services, enabling optimal performance of information warfare across the full spectrum of military operations.

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